Shelter
by januaryfreeze92
Summary: Leonard McCoy x Nyota Uhura - Set when Gaila and Jim first get together, say their second year, Uhura and McCoy take turns sacrificing their rooms for their roommates. When Uhura can't find a place to stay, she remembers that his door is always open.


**Hey, all!**

**Yeaah, I'm supposed to be doing my summer reading. But I reeeally wanted to write something!**

**Something I found interesting, that I wanted to share with all of you - I always assumed that McCoy was much, much older than the other students in ST09. Not sure why, because he was still born in 2227, and joined Star Fleet in 2255. After the whole "Three years pass" thing, that would mean he was 31 during most of the movie. That's not that much older than the others... Er, he wasn't that much older than Spock, so I don't see why Nyota would have many inhibitions about age if she was willing to go for a 27 (I think?) year old Vulcan.**

**So this story is set their second year at Star Fleet, before Ny gets her eyes set on our favorite Vulcan... Give me a break, this is my first ever McCoy/Nyota fic.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek, nor do I own the characters - I only own the story and the Star Bar. I do not own Joanna, she is an actual character, although I made up what she looked like because I couldn't find pictures - she was supposed to be in the show, but they discarded the script that she was in, opting to go with a different storyline.**

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The tall Star Bar rose before the small group, the flickering neon sign lighting up their faces.

"How long do we have to be here for?" Nyota groaned, crossing her arms over long, black coat.

"Well, it would help if you just tried to have fun. I mean, what's wrong with having a guy buy a drink for you or something?" Gaila shot, hanging all over the blond boy whose arm was wrapped around her shoulders. The tall, dark skinned Cadet just shook her head and rolled her eyes, following the two through the dark doors of the club, Leonard in tow.

The inside of the bar was chaotic, as it was every Friday night. The dark, blue walls glittered with pretty, tiny white lights that resembled the night sky. The dance floor was filled with reckless students, dancing wildly to the music that the on-duty DJ mixed. The four went to sit at their normal booth, dropping onto the comfy silver seats. Jim pulled on a thin, brunette waitress by the elbow.

"Hey there, beautiful, can we order some drinks?" he asked her, giving her a playful wink.

"Sure thing," she said, eyeing his girlfriend who, strangely, didn't seem effected by his flirtatious nature, "What can I get ya?"

"Four Slusho mixes would do us fine," he said with a charming smile.

"Make that three Slushos and one coke," Leonard called after the woman, discarding his jacket.

"With rum! Come on, live a little, Lenlen," Gaila said with a laugh, pretty much sitting in Jim's lap.

Leonard stared after the waitress. "I'm changing my order," he announced, getting up, but Nyota placed a gentle hand on his arm.

"Don't worry about it - one drink won't hurt you. And once they get on the dance floor, you can have all of the non-alcoholic beverages you want," she said with a smile, a smile that cause his heart to slightly warm.

"Am I the only one who feels like a babysitter?" Leonard asked her, watching as the couple disappeared into the array of partying students, and she laughed, knowing how right he was.

- - -

Nyota eyed the two of her companions who were insistently making out in the corner of the booth.

"Alright, guess that means their ready to leave," Nyota said, digging into her purse to pay for her few drinks, "My turn tonight, right?"

Leonard and Nyota had been taking turns sacrificing their rooms for the past few weeks, since Nyota kept winning whenever they drew straws and he was forced to either watch them or find a place to stay. She secretly guessed he was letting her win so she wouldn't be kicked out of her quarters, but, as grateful as she was, she couldn't let him do that.

"Here, I got that," he said, laying down the money on the table. It wasn't much anyway, seeing as most of what she consumed was bought for Gaila by other men.

"Don't be silly."

"Come on, we have to escort these two back before they get naked right here. I got it this time," he said and she sighed and nodded, eyeing the horny couple.

It wasn't that hard to get them out of the Bar, anyway - they knew that as soon as they got to Nyota's and Gaila's dorm they could have all the fun they wanted, so they were eager. Jim's arm was around Gaila as they drunkenly stumbled across campus in the direction of Student Housing.

"Please remember to close the blinds or you'll have an audience," she reminded them, unlocking the door and grabbing the bag that she packed before they went at eachother.

The door shut in their faces and Nyota rolled her eyes. "Have you found a place to spend the night?" he asked her and she shook her head.

"It's fine, I'll check with a few of my friends. If not, there's always the library," she said, eyeing the open window with disgust. She pounded it with her fist. "Close the curtains, you two!"

She heard them laugh before they were pulled shut.

"Well, my door is always open," he reminded her before they split ways - him in the direction of his dorm room, and her in the direction of Janice's, hoping she wouldn't have a guy there.

Of course, Janice was just as bad as Gaila. Nyota could hear them through the door and didn't bother knocking. She then tried to go to Christine's room, which was a little farther across campus. The night grew chillier as she made her way to the other dorm room.

"Christine?" she called in.

The door opened partially, revealing a definitely mussed-up Christine Chapel.

"Hey, ah, what's up, Ny?" she said and Nyota just shook her head.

"Never mind, have fun with whoever's in there."

Christine looked after her in concern but, seeing as she was half naked, didn't go after her.

Nyota nervously knocked on the door before her, the cold gust of wind causing her to cross her arms in a last futile attempt to warm herself up. It was her last hope of sleeping tonight in a bed and not in the library, and she was praying that Leonard hadn't taken in some girl at the last minute, as out of character as that seemed to her.

"God-dammit, Jim, did she kick you out_ again_?" she heard behind the door as it clicked open, revealing a disheveled Leonard McCoy in only sweatpants. "Oh, Nyota," he said, raising his arm to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, "Couldn't pull together a slumber party with a friend at the last minute?"

"Guess not," she said with a sheepish smile, eyeing his bare chest discreetly. The collared shirt he was wearing earlier that evening did his chiseled torso no justice.

He opened the door wider, allowing her room to pass in. "Come on in, it's freezing out," he said as she brushed past him. Her cheeks warmed and she was suddenly grateful for her dark skin tone.

He closed the door behind her and she dropped her bag onto what was definitely Jim's bed. The room was similar to her own quarters - down to the obviously two very different roommates' methods of tidiness.

"No wonder Gaila and Jim ended up together," she said in wonder, eyeing Jim's messy side of the room, flinging his dirty shirt into a corner and shivered. Leonard laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said with a rueful grin, slipping a sweatshirt on for modesty.

"Do you think this bed will give me AIDS?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow, causing him to laugh harder.

Instead of sitting on the bed, she decided to lean against the wall, the warm fuzziness in her brain, due to drinks earlier consumed, not helping at all.

"Tell you what, I'll let you take my bed tonight."

"I couldn't do that, Leonard," she told him, pulling her PADD out of her bag. Once she took off her long jacket, he noticed that she was still in the outfit she had worn to the club, a dress that he found very attractive on her that was obviously Gaila's, judging by how much skin was showing.

He stood up, moving to the closet and pulling out a clean blanket. He spread it over his roommates bed, making it safer in Nyota's eyes. "You can, and you will," he insisted as she dropped onto the bed previously in question that was comfortably squishy from use. She didn't want to think of how he used it, however...

"What are you working on?" she asked him, looking at the PADD and holotextbooks on his bed.

"Interspecies Protocol test."

"Monday? Crap, I forgot!" she exclaimed in earnest, bringing her hand to her forehead in exasperation.

"Well, hey, if you help me out here, I'll help you out with our Exobiology test," he offered hopefully, "Please?"

"With a cherry on top?" she teased, flopping on her stomach and already searching through her PADD for her notes.

"Of course."

Nyota sighed and teased, "Well, you know I can't say no when you ask me so nicely."

And that was how the next hour passed - with Nyota pushing Leonard to his mental limits when it came to Interspecies Protocol. They worked with holographic flashcards, small stimulations, and a few well thought-out queries. They were hard at work until he finally reclined, arms crossed, and gruffly stated, "I am finished. I'm a doctor, not an Ambassador. I do not need to know about any Goddamn alien protocol."

She just chuckled, tossing the holotextbook aside and looked up from wear she was seated at the foot of his bed, absentmindedly running her fingers along the bottom of his foot. He didn't show it, but he shivered every time her fingernails scraped against his heel.

"Well, what if you beam down to a planet in order to give them all a Medical Check-Up, and don't know how to properly approach them?"

"If they want my help, they'll have to put up with my lack of manners, I guess."

Perhaps it was the alcohol in his system that allowed him to be so carefree, but his outer gruffness was stripped away that particular evening. He looked up at the dark skinned woman who sat on his bed, her hair cascading carelessly over her bare shoulder and felt the last few layers of inhibitions melt away. He was in good company, company that he felt comfortable sharing himself with, and not just the part of him that was on display to everyone else.

"Thanks for letting me crash here, Lenny," she said, mimicking Gaila's intonation perfectly on the last word, either because of the time spent in her company or the fact that she was a brilliant linguist.

"Do not make me think of those two right now. And what they're probably doing..."

Their faces twisted up comically, a resounding and identical "Eww..." immediately elicited. After a moment of disturbing images playing in their heads, Nyota turned to him.

"Do you mind if I use your shower?" she asked him sheepishly.

"Go ahead and do us both a favor," he teased and she threw a curiously stained pillow at him from Jim's bed before disappearing behind the small door.

Nyota slipped the dress off of her body, happy for the release, before stepping into the shower. The campus was constructed before sonic showers came into existence and, because of this, some dorm rooms still had traditional showers - This dorm room was one of them. She made sure her feet were underneath her, since she still felt a little tipsy, before starting to wash herself.

"Leonard, can I use your shampoo?" she called, sticking her head out from behind the curtain, straining to hear the _Sure!_ that came not a moment later.

She reached for one of the green bottle and deposited its contents, that smelled deliciously of cucumbers, into her palm before distributing it through her hair. After getting out of the shower, she reached for a clean, fluffy towel and wrapped it around herself before swearing softly.

Nyota opened the door, reaching her head around to look for the doctor. "Crap, I'm sorry for being such a pain," she said in embarrassment, "But can you pass me my bag? I forgot my clothes."

He turned around from the kitchenette to retrieve her bag for her, mentally reprimanding himself when his eyes wandered along her wet and very-close-to-being-naked body. Hey, he wasn't as young as the other students, but he certainly was not senile, and her bare back was pleasantly distracting. "You're not being a pain at all," he said, politely looking away when he passed the bag to her.

"You want anything to eat?" he called when he heard the door close, rummaging through the very little food they had.

She reappeared from behind the door, hair still dripping wet as she brushed through it. He smiled to himself when he smelled his cucumber shampoo, oddly satisfied that she had used it.

"What are you having?"

"Late dinner slash midnight snack," he responded, opening his fridge.

"It's three in the morning," she said with a laugh and he shrugged.

"Or you can call it a really early breakfast."

She smiled, sitting back down on the bed and watched as he rummaged through the cabinets. "All I can find are Jim's stupid health bars, apples, and coffee."

"Well, coffee will keep me up all night. What color apples are there?"

"Red and green."

"I'll take a green," said Nyota, crossing her legs indian stile and leaned against the headboard. He tossed it to her before grabbing a one for himself.

"I'm more of a red apple kind of guy," he told her, taking a bite into his as he pulled out two more blankets and an extra pillow to construct his bed with.

"Eh, that's okay. Not everyone can handle Granny Smith," she said with a playful smirk, "I guess opposites attract."

She didn't really think of how that sentence could have sounded to him, but it left a small smile on his face as he sat on the ground, biting into his apple once more.

"Computer, lights dim," he said, noting Nyota's yawn and exhausted eyes before laying back against Jim's bed.

"Hey, it's my birthday on the clock," she pointed out with a chuckle, after a moment of the only sound being the crunch of apples. He looked up with a smile, eyeing the digital display.

_Wait a minute, Birthday..._

"Goddamn-it!" he exclaimed, jumping up suddenly. He dashed to the monitor in the corner of his room, checking the date there.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, sitting up and he just held up his finger, asking her to wait, mumbling something about 'three hours' and 'Joanna'.

"Computer, lights at 100%. Computer, on compact monitor leave message for McCoy, Joanna," he prattled off the info that the computer would need to find the young girl before turning the screen so Nyota would not be in the picture. He hurriedly ran a hand through his hair before he saw the screen whir into action.

"Hello, sweetheart," he started, not daring to look up at the woman who was now staring at him in confusion, "You'll be on your way to school when you get this, but I want you to know that I love you very much and hope you have a fantastic birthday." He paused, almost unsure what to say next in the message. The warmth in his voice touched Nyota as she watched. "I'll see you when I get out of school for Christmas. Make sure Mommy remembers to check the Transporter Pad for your present."

He ended the transmission then with a sigh before looking up at Nyota. "I guess I should say thanks for reminding me," he said, trying to put the gruffness back into his voice.

"I didn't know you had a daughter."

"She turns five tomorrow," he told her.

She smiled, leaning back against the wall contemplatively. "What does she look like?"

"She's beautiful," he started, sitting back down after discarding his apple, "Long blond hair, from her Ma, but she's got my blue eyes."

"You might have to sit on your porch with a shotgun when she's a teenager, to keep all the heartbreakers away," Nyota teased him and he half-heartedly smiled.

"Well, that's not my job anymore."

She frowned empathetically, "I am so sorry."

"Not your fault. It was her two-timing mother that pulled us apart," he confessed to her, shaking his head slowly.

"She doesn't know what she's missing," she told him sleepily, her eyes half closed, already lightly dozing.

"What about your family?"

"My family isn't interesting," she told him with a sober frown, crossing her arms, "Little sister, big brother who ran away when I was a kid, a loving mom, and a character of a father."

After a moment of silence, he looked back up at her, "Nyota?"

"Mm?"

"Don't tell anybody about Joanna, please."

"I promise," she said quietly, drifting off into sleep.

Leonard stood up, removing the PADDs and holos that were still scattered around her on the bed before getting a blanket to drape across her. "Night, Ny," he told her softly, brushing some of her now dry hair out of her face.

"Computer, lights out."

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**R&R**

**No flames. Like I said, this is my first McCoy/Uhura fic.**


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